The First Meeting
When I first met with the owners of this urgent care chain, they weren’t hopeless, but they were frustrated. They had invested heavily in opening three clinics, each in what seemed like a good location. The facilities were modern, the doctors were capable, and the doors were open. Yet the waiting rooms told the real story: empty chairs, staff waiting for patients, and a trickle of people coming through each day.
On average, they were seeing about thirty patients per day in each branch. That number might sound decent if you’re looking at it from the outside, but in urgent care it’s nowhere near enough to sustain operations. Rent, staff, equipment, marketing—it all adds up. Thirty patients a day doesn’t cover it.
Their goal wasn’t complicated: ninety patients per day per location. Enough to cover costs comfortably, keep staff fully occupied, and begin to scale the business the way they envisioned.
I listened as they explained their struggles. They had PPC vendors already running campaigns, but the return was inconsistent. Their online presence existed, but it was fragmented. They knew people in their neighborhoods needed urgent care. They just weren’t choosing these clinics.
At one point, one of the owners said something I’ve heard before in other industries: “We know the demand is there. We’re just invisible when it matters most.”
That line was the heart of the issue. Urgent care is about visibility in the moment of decision. People don’t plan their injuries. They don’t bookmark clinics for future reference. They search, they ask, they choose—right there in the moment. If you’re not the obvious choice in that moment, you lose the patient and the revenue.
That’s where we started.
Three Clinics, Three Worlds
The first challenge was that these weren’t three identical clinics. They were three very different worlds, each with its own dynamics.
One branch was brand new, sitting in the middle of a Hispanic-majority urban neighborhood. This was a tight-knit community, proud of its culture, where Spanish was often the first language spoken. Here, trust and communication mattered more than sleek branding. Families wanted to know they’d be understood and cared for.
The second branch was inside an upscale shopping mall in a busy urban district. This wasn’t about awareness—foot traffic was everywhere. The challenge here was standing out. In a mall full of polished storefronts and premium brands, the clinic had to prove it was modern, reliable, and worthy of the people who expected high standards.
The third branch was inside a shopping center in a predominantly Black community. This was a place where relationships and word of mouth mattered more than anything. The clinic couldn’t just exist—it had to prove it belonged. It had to show up in the schools, the businesses, and the conversations of the neighborhood.
Three clinics. Three worlds. One-size-fits-all marketing wouldn’t work here. In fact, it would have been a disaster.
The Reset
The chain already had PPC vendors, and they weren’t doing badly. But throwing more ad spend at the problem wasn’t the answer. Without a strong foundation, paid ads are just expensive noise.
So we started with a complete reset.
Every clinic got its own online identity. Separate Google Business Profiles. Individual SEO targeting. Distinct messaging that reflected its neighborhood.
For the Hispanic-majority branch, we made sure the digital presence spoke Spanish as naturally as English. We highlighted bilingual staff. We produced content that didn’t just translate, but communicated. Families browsing Google needed to feel welcome before they even walked through the doors.
I remember one early patient, Marisol. She brought her son in after he hurt his wrist at school. Later she told the staff that she chose this clinic because their Google profile had Spanish-language directions and staff photos that looked like her community. “Sentí que ya me estaban hablando antes de entrar.” (“It felt like they were speaking to me before I even got here,”) she said. That wasn’t an accident—it was strategy.
For the upscale mall branch, we shifted focus to presentation and convenience. The marketing wasn’t about whether the clinic existed—it was about whether it matched the standard of people who worked and shopped in that environment. The website redesign emphasized professionalism and speed, much like what I often describe in my Websites Built to Perform page.
I think of Daniel, a young professional who cut his hand opening a package during lunch. He walked past other options and came straight to the mall clinic. At check-in, he told the front desk, “It looked like the kind of place that would handle this quickly, without the ER wait.” That’s exactly the perception we wanted to create.
For the third branch, it was all about community presence. We tied marketing into local schools, partnered with nearby gyms, and sponsored neighborhood events. We didn’t just advertise—we showed up.
One patient named Aisha came in after her son sprained his ankle at basketball practice. She later told friends, “I went there because they’ve been at our school events. They’re part of the neighborhood.” That’s brand building at the ground level, and it’s what I mean when I talk about Building Stronger Brand Awareness.
By the end of this reset, each clinic didn’t just look like another urgent care—it looked like the urgent care for its neighborhood.
Becoming the Local Name
Once the foundation was solid, we went heavy on local brand building.
Not broad. Not generic. Hyper-local.
Each clinic needed to become the first name that came to mind when someone got hurt at soccer practice, sliced a finger while cooking, or twisted an ankle at the mall.
We focused on localized SEO, much like the approach I lay out in Rank Higher on Google. It wasn’t just about appearing in “urgent care near me” results—it was about dominating searches in the exact neighborhoods each clinic served.
We partnered with schools, gyms, daycare centers, and local offices. We made sure that when someone asked, “Where should I go?” the first answer was these clinics.
By month six, the results were impossible to ignore. Clinics that had averaged thirty patients per day were now regularly pushing ninety.
One of the owners texted me a photo one evening. The waiting room was overflowing. Kids in sports jerseys with ice packs. Shoppers holding bags while waiting to be seen. Workers on break. It was chaos, but it was the good kind of chaos—the kind that comes when you’ve become the name everyone knows.
Ten Months Later
By month ten, the clinics had not only reached their goal of ninety patients per day—they had blown past it. Each location was averaging 120 patients daily.
The Hispanic-majority clinic had become a fixture in its neighborhood. Families like Marisol’s weren’t just coming back—they were bringing friends. Word of mouth, in Spanish and English, was carrying the clinic’s reputation faster than ads ever could.
The upscale mall clinic had cemented itself as the quick, reliable option for busy professionals and shoppers. Daniel wasn’t the only one—dozens of people came in every week because it looked like their kind of place.
The clinic in the predominantly Black community had become respected, not just busy. Parents trusted it. Schools recommended it. Local businesses mentioned it without being asked. Patients like Aisha weren’t just customers—they were advocates.
The chain went from struggling to cover costs to running at full capacity, with the confidence to plan further expansion.
The Lesson
Urgent care decisions happen in minutes. Nobody spends weeks researching options. They search, they ask someone nearby, they make a choice. If you’re not visible, clear, and trusted in that moment, you lose.
What worked here wasn’t a secret trick. It wasn’t doubling the ad budget. It wasn’t a new shiny tactic.
It was building a foundation that matched each community. It was heavy local SEO. It was consistent visibility. It was brand building at the ground level—showing up, speaking the language, becoming the obvious choice.
That’s what tripled patient volume. And that’s why this urgent care chain now runs at capacity instead of sitting half-empty.
It’s the same principle I use again and again: whether it’s an urgent care, a supplement brand, or any other business—growth comes not from guesswork, but from clarity, alignment, and execution. That’s the core of my Strategy That Scales.
Marketing Unplugged 
Leave a Reply